Rail passengers face weekend of travel chaos amid engineering works

Rail passengers face weekend of travel chaos with engineering works set to close parts of Elizabeth line, London Overground and other key routes across Britain

Rail passengers face another weekend of chaos with engineering works set to close key routes across Britain after industrial action caused a week of major disruption.

The Newcastle to Edinburgh line will be shut all weekend, while Sunday will see no Gatwick Express services and much of the Elizabeth line closed through London.

Large parts of the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines on the Underground will not run all weekend; some London Overground lines will shut on Sunday; and there will also be a closure of much of the Greater Anglia network between the capital and Essex.

Buses will replace trains between Wolverhampton and Stafford on Sunday; severe weather in Scotland has prompted alterations for the Caledonian Sleeper; and the Chiltern Railways line will be closed between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Aylesbury.

Great Western Railway will operate buses between Bath and Bristol all weekend, while East Midlands Railway will do the same between Peterborough and Ely.

Three Eurostar services on Sunday have been axed due to engineering works in Kent which will also impact Southeastern trains running into the county past Ashford.

South Western Railway lines will be closed in the Brockenhurst area of Hampshire and Barnes in South London. The operator even issued a warning over ‘large gaps’ between bus replacements ‘due to the ongoing national shortage of bus drivers’.

It comes at the end of a bruising week for the rail industry which saw train drivers’ union Aslef hold two strike days and five days of overtime bans which finish today.

This overtime ban also caused further disruption this morning, affecting Great Northern, Thameslink, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway.

Separately, there were delays today due to points failure, strong winds, flooding, signalling problems, track inspections, train faults and damage to overhead wires.

On Wednesday, the industry also suffered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cancellation of HS2’s northern leg from Birmingham to Manchester – with doubts remaining over whether the line will ever make it to a planned new London Euston station.

CrossCountry said that across the weekend, buses will run between Newcastle and stations to Edinburgh. There will also be buses between Peterborough and Ely, and Southampton Airport Parkway to Bournemouth, and on Sunday between Wolverhampton, Stafford and Stoke

Great Western Railway will run buses between Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads all weekend. On Sunday, there will be buses between Reading and Guildford; Moreton-in-Marsh, stations in Worcester and Great Malvern; Exeter and Exmouth; and Swansea, Llanelli and Carmarthen

A London TravelWatch spokesman told MailOnline today: ‘We recognise that engineering work needs to take place regularly, especially around safety-critical maintenance of tracks and signalling. 

What engineering works will affect rail services this weekend? 

Avanti West Coast

Buses replace trains between Wolverhampton and Stafford / Stoke-on-Trent on Sunday. Works between Northampton and Milton Keynes Central will also close some lines.

c2c

On Saturday, trains from Fenchurch St and Liverpool St to Shoeburyness will be diverted via Rainham, Grays and Tilbury. On Sunday, trains to Liverpool St diverted to Fenchurch St and via an alternative route between Barking and Pitsea – not calling at Upminster, West Horndon, Laindon or Basildon.

On Friday night, the London Euston to Fort William service is cancelled due to a weather warning. The Euston to Aberdeen service will get to Aberdeen late at 9am. On Sunday night, the Fort William to Euston train will now depart from Dundee at 11.11pm due to the ‘extreme weather conditions’.

Chiltern Railways

On Saturday and Sunday, the railway is closed between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Aylesbury. Buses will operate. On Sunday, London Marylebone station is closed until 10.35am and services will operate north of West Ruislip.

CrossCountry 

Across the weekend, replacement buses between Newcastle and stations to Edinburgh. Other buses between Peterborough, Whittlesea (Saturday), March, Manea (Saturday) and Ely. Buses from Southampton Airport Parkway to Bournemouth. On Sunday, buses between Wolverhampton, Stafford and Stoke on Trent.

Docklands Light Railway

Normal service expected

East Midlands Railway

Buses replace trains between Peterborough and Ely. All intercity trains will start or terminate at Bedford instead of London St Pancras.

Elizabeth line

No service between Paddington and Abbey Wood / Shenfield for all of Sunday. Also on Sunday from 7.40am, reduced service between Paddington and Heathrow / Reading.

Eurostar

On Sunday, trains 9008 (London-Paris), 9114 (London-Amsterdam) and 9157 (Amsterdam-London) cancelled due to HS1 engineering works.

Gatwick Express 

No Gatwick Express services on Sunday due to engineering works 

Grand Central

Normal service expected

Great Northern

Buses replace trains between Ely and Kings Lynn across the weekend.

Great Western Railway

Buses between Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads all weekend. On Sunday, buses between Reading and Guildford; Moreton-in-Marsh, stations in Worcester and Great Malvern; Exeter St Davids, Exeter Central and Exmouth; and Swansea, Llanelli and Carmarthen.

Greater Anglia

All weekend, buses between Ely and Peterborough; Norwich and Cromer or Sheringham; and Thetford and Ely. On Sunday, all lines shut between London Liverpool St and Witham/Shenfield. On Sunday until 11.30am, all lines closed between Stratford and Tottenham Hale/Meridian Water.

Heathrow Express

On Sunday, amended timetable with first trains running from 7.40am.

Hull Trains

Normal service expected

Island Line

Normal service expected

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) 

All weekend, all services diverted between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Carlisle, adding 90 minutes to journey times. Buses for stations between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

London Northwestern Railway 

On Sunday, no trains at Northampton – and buses between Wolverhampton, Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.

London Overground

On Sunday, no service between Romford and Upminster. Until 12pm, no service between Shepherds Bush / Richmond and Stratford, and between Gospel Oak and Woodgrange Park.

London Underground

On the Metropolitan line, no service all weekend between Wembley Park and Amersham / Chesham / Uxbridge / Watford. On the Piccadilly line, none between South Harrow and Uxbridge. 

Lumo

Trains will begin and end in Newcastle, with coaches travelling further north.

Merseyrail

All weekend, no trains between Birkenhead North and West Kirby. On Sunday, none between Moorfields and Formby; Moorfields and Aintree; and Moorfields and Kirkby. 

Northern

Buses on Saturday from Alnmouth and Morpeth to Newcastle and Metrocentre; Carlisle and Workington. 

ScotRail

Buses from Newcastle to Edinburgh all weekend; and between Partick and Springburn / Garrowhill on Sunday.

Southeastern

Buses between Ashford International and Dover Priory all weekend.

Southern 

Buses between London Bridge and Streatham all weekend. On Sunday, buses between Three Bridges and Brighton. On Sunday pre-9am, buses between Havant and Southampton.

South Western Railway 

Lines closed all weekend in the Brockenhurst area, Barnes area and between Axminster and Exeter St Davids. On Sunday, some lines in Guildford area closed. Warning over large gaps between bus replacements ‘due to the ongoing national shortage of bus drivers’.

Stansted Express

Trains not stopping at Tottenham Hale before 8.15am on Sunday.

Thameslink

All weekend, buses between Bedford and Luton; Luton and West Hampstead Thameslink; Luton Airport Parkway and Hitchin via Luton; Harpenden and Potters Bar via St Albans.

TransPennine Express 

Buses between Newcastle and Edinburgh all weekend. On Sunday, buses to and from Huddersfield

Transport for Wales

Buses between Bidston and Wrexham stations all weekend. Sunday, buses between Swansea and Carmarthen; and Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog.

West Midlands Railway

Normal service expected

‘But we know that since the pandemic, some weekend services are busier than weekdays due to pent-up demand for leisure travel and many employees choosing to work from home. 

‘It’s important industry works together to see if there are new ways of working to consider that will cause less disruption for passengers. 

‘We know that Network Rail has trialled some weekday engineering work and it will be interesting to see if this will be rolled out further.’ 

This week, drivers who are members of Aslef have been banning overtime since Monday, which has been affecting 16 train operators across England.

On c2c today, nine trains from stations in Essex towards London Fenchurch Street were not running this morning amid a reduced peak time service and a reduced frequency of two trains per hour during off peak hours.

Chiltern Railways also had a reduced service in operation, with some early morning and late night services cancelled.

There was a limited service at Denham Golf Club, Kings Sutton, Warwick and Hatton.

And there was no service at Lapworth, South Ruislip, Northolt Park, Sudbury Hill Harrow and Sudbury & Harrow Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Chalfont & Latimer and Amersham.

Meanwhile the usual non-stop Gatwick Express service between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport and Brighton was not running today. Extra stops at Clapham Junction and East Croydon were added and those trains were instead operating as Southern services.

Great Northern also had an amended timetable with fewer services running. There was no service at Moorgate, Old Street, Essex Road, Highbury & Islington and Drayton Park.

Trains were being diverted to and from London Kings Cross, or terminating at and starting back from Finsbury Park.

As for West Midlands Railway, buses replace trains between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa via Coventry, while there was also reduced train service from Birmingham New Street to Hereford and Shrewsbury.

Other networks reporting possible amended services today due to the overtime ban included CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Southern and South Western Railway.

The Island Line on the Isle of Wight was operating a reduced hourly service, while London Northwestern Railway said buses were replacing trains between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey

Thameslink said there was a very reduced service between Sutton and St Albans due to a shortage of train crew.

However there were also a series of issues on different networks this morning which were not linked to the overtime ban.

In Surrey, there were issues between Leatherhead, Epsom and Dorking, with a safety inspection of the track meaning all lines were blocked.

South Western Railway’s London Waterloo to Dorking services were being diverted to Hampton Court and calling additionally at Surbiton. Dorking to Waterloo services were starting at Raynes Park.

Southern said the line towards Dorking and Horsham was blocked and no trains could run between those stations.

Trains which would run between London Victoria and Horsham via Dorking were instead either running between Victoria and Leatherhead or were diverting and running to Horsham via Gatwick and Three Bridges.

Meanwhile there was damage to overhead wires between Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport, meaning trains were being delayed by up to an hour, affecting Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales routes.

A fault with the signalling system between Lancaster to Preston also meant trains were being delayed.

Between Poole and Bournemouth, signalling problems meant South Western Railway trains had to run at a reduced speed on all lines.

This was affecting services between Weymouth, Poole and Bournemouth, and between Weymouth, Poole, Southampton Central and London Waterloo

At Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, a broken down train was affecting West Midlands Railway services between Birmingham New Street and Hereford, and between Lichfield City and Bromsgrove.

Between Coleshill Parkway and Nuneaton, a points failure was affecting CrossCountry services between Birmingham New Street and Leicester, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

And between Skipton and Settle in the North West, heavy rain flooding the railway meant Northern trains had to run at a reduced speed on some lines.

In Scotland, tree speeds were limited on services between Georgemas Junction and Thurso and Wick due to strong winds.

And in East London and Essex, Transport for London (TfL) reported minor delays on the Underground’s District Line westbound this morning due to train cancellations.

Meanwhile there are a huge number of engineering works being undertaken this weekend which will cause significant disruption in parts of the country.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has warned that all weekend, all services will be diverted between Newcastle and Edinburgh via Carlisle, adding 90 minutes to journey times. Buses will run for stations between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Its rival operator Lumo added that trains will begin and end in Newcastle, with coaches travelling further north.

In London, the Elizabeth line will have no service between Paddington and Abbey Wood or Shenfield for all of Sunday. Also on Sunday from 7.40am, there will be a reduced service between Paddington and Heathrow and Reading.

London Overground will have no service between Romford and Upminster on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, until 12pm, there will be no service between Shepherds Bush and Richmond and Stratford, and between Gospel Oak and Woodgrange Park.

As for the London Underground, on the Metropolitan line there will be no service all weekend between Wembley Park and Amersham, Chesham, Uxbridge and Watford.

On the Piccadilly line, there will be no service between South Harrow and Uxbridge.

However, there will be a normal service on all other Tube lines as well as the Docklands Light Railway.

All weekend on Greater Anglia, there will be buses between Ely and Peterborough; Norwich and Cromer and Sheringham; and Thetford and Ely.

On Sunday, all lines will be shut between London Liverpool Street and Witham and Shenfield.

On Sunday until 11.30am, all lines will be closed between Stratford and Tottenham Hale and Meridian Water.

Southeastern will run buses between Ashford International and Dover Priory all weekend

South Western Railway lines will be closed all weekend in the Brockenhurst area, Barnes area and between Axminster and Exeter St Davids. On Sunday, lines in the Guildford area are closed

The Stansted Express will also not be stopping at Tottenham Hale before 8.15am on Sunday.

Problems on the UK rail network today 

WHAT ISSUES ARE BEING CAUSED BY ASLEF UNION’S OVERTIME BAN? 

c2c

Nine trains to London Fenchurch Street not running this morning. Reduced peak time service and a reduced frequency of two trains per hour during off peak hours.

Chiltern Railways

Reduced service in operation, with some early morning and late night services cancelled. A limited service at Denham Golf Club, Kings Sutton, Warwick and Hatton. No service at Lapworth, South Ruislip, Northolt Park, Sudbury Hill Harrow and Sudbury & Harrow Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Chalfont & Latimer and Amersham

CrossCountry

Warning that ‘some services will be amended’

East Midlands Railway

Trains ‘may be subject to short notice alterations and cancellations’

Gatwick Express

Usual non-stop Gatwick Express service between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport and Brighton not running. Extra stops at Clapham Junction and East Croydon added, on trains operating as Southern services.

Great Northern

Amended timetable with fewer services running. No Great Northern service at Moorgate, Old Street, Essex Road, Highbury & Islington and Drayton Park. Trains diverted to and from London Kings Cross, or terminate at and start back from Finsbury Park.

Greater Anglia

There will be ‘some cancelled services’

Great Western Railway

Warning that there ‘could be disruption’

Island Line

Reduced hourly service

London Northwestern Railway

Buses replace trains between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey

Southern

Amended timetable with fewer services running

South Western Railway

Warning that a ‘small number of services may be cancelled’

Thameslink

Very reduced service between Sutton and St Albans due to shortage of train crew

West Midlands Railway

Buses replace trains between Nuneaton and Leamington Spa via Coventry. Reduced train service from Birmingham New Street to Hereford and Shrewsbury

WHAT OTHER PROBLEMS ARE THERE – NOT LINKED TO OVERTIME BAN?

Leatherhead/Epsom to Dorking – Safety inspection of the track means all lines are blocked. South Western Railway’s London Waterloo to Dorking services are being diverted to Hampton Court and calling additionally at Surbiton. Dorking to Waterloo services will start at Raynes Park. Southern said the line towards Dorking and Horsham is blocked and no trains can run between these stations. Trains which would run between London Victoria and Horsham via Dorking will instead either run between Victoria and Leatherhead or will divert and run to Horsham via Gatwick / Three Bridges.

Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport – damage to overhead wires means trains are being delayed by up to an hour, affecting Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern , TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales

Lancaster to Preston – A fault with the signalling system means trains are being delayed

Poole to Bournemouth – Signalling problem means South Western Railway trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines. Affecting services between Weymouth, Poole and Bournemouth, and between Weymouth, Poole, Southampton Central and London Waterloo

Bromsgrove – Broken down train affecting  West Midlands Railway services between Birmingham New Street and Hereford, and between Lichfield City and Bromsgrove

Coleshill Parkway and Nuneaton – points failure between Coleshill Parkway and Nuneaton affecting CrossCountry services between Birmingham New Street and Leicester, Cambridge and Stansted Airport

Skipton and Settle – Heavy rain flooding the railway means Northern trains have to run at a reduced speed on some lines

Georgemas Junction to Thurso/Wick – Train speeds limited on ScotRail services due to strong winds

Barking to Upminster – Minor delays on the London Underground’s District Line westbound due to train cancellations.

Eurostar said that on Sunday, trains 9008 from London to Paris, 9114 from London to Amsterdam and 9157 from Amsterdam to London will cancelled due to High Speed One (HS1) engineering works in Kent.

This also means Southeastern will be running buses between Ashford International and Dover Priory all weekend.

Avanti West Coast said buses will replace trains between Wolverhampton and Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent on Sunday. Works between Northampton and Milton Keynes Central will also close some lines.

On c2c, trains from Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street to Shoeburyness will be diverted via Rainham, Grays and Tilbury.

On Sunday, trains to Liverpool Street will be diverted to Fenchurch Street and via an alternative route between Barking and Pitsea – not calling at Upminster, West Horndon, Laindon or Basildon.

The Caledonian Sleeper said the London Euston to Fort William service tonight is cancelled due to a weather warning, while the Euston to Aberdeen service will get to its destination late at 9am.

On Sunday night, the Fort William to Euston train will now depart from Dundee at 11.11pm due what the operator described as ‘extreme weather conditions’.

Chiltern Railways said that on Saturday and Sunday, the railway is closed between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Aylesbury, and buses will operate.

On Sunday, London Marylebone station will be closed until 10.35am and services will operate north of West Ruislip.

CrossCountry warned that across the weekend, replacement buses will run between Newcastle and stations to Edinburgh. Other buses will run between Peterborough, Whittlesea (Saturday only), March, Manea (Saturday only) and Ely.

There will also be buses from Southampton Airport Parkway to Bournemouth. On Sunday, buses will run between Wolverhampton, Stafford and Stoke on Trent.

On East Midlands Railway, buses will replace trains between Peterborough and Ely. All intercity trains will start or terminate at Bedford instead of London St Pancras.

Gatwick Express said it will run services on Sunday due to engineering works, while Great Northern informed passengers that buses will replace trains between Ely and Kings Lynn across the weekend.

Great Western Railway will run buses between Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads all weekend.

On Sunday, buses will run between Reading and Guildford; Moreton-in-Marsh, stations in Worcester and Great Malvern; Exeter St Davids, Exeter Central and Exmouth; and Swansea, Llanelli and Carmarthen.

Heathrow Express said there would be an amended timetable on Sunday with first trains running from 7.40am.

London Northwestern Railway said there will be no trains at Northampton on Sunday – as well as buses between Wolverhampton, Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.

Merseyrail will have no trains all weekend between Birkenhead North and West Kirby. On Sunday, there will be none between Moorfields and Formby; Moorfields and Aintree; and Moorfields and Kirkby.

Northern warned of buses on Saturday from Alnmouth and Morpeth to Newcastle and Metrocentre; and between Carlisle and Workington.

ScotRail said there will be buses from Newcastle to Edinburgh all weekend; and between Partick and Springburn and Garrowhill on Sunday.

Southern will be running buses between London Bridge and Streatham all weekend. On Sunday, there will be buses between Three Bridges and Brighton. Also on Sunday, before 9am, there will be buses between Havant and Southampton.

South Western Railway said lines will be closed all weekend in the Brockenhurst area, Barnes area and between Axminster and Exeter St Davids.

On Sunday, some lines in the Guildford area will be closed all weekend.

The operator also issued a warning over large gaps between bus replacement services ‘due to the ongoing national shortage of bus drivers’.

Thameslink said that all weekend, there will be buses between Bedford and Luton; Luton and West Hampstead Thameslink; Luton Airport Parkway and Hitchin via Luton; Harpenden and Potters Bar via St Albans.

As for TransPennine Express, the operator warned of buses between Newcastle and Edinburgh all weekend. There will also be buses to and from Huddersfield on Sunday.

Transport for Wales said there will be buses between Bidston and Wrexham stations all weekend. On Sunday, there will be buses between Swansea and Carmarthen; and Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Grand Central, Island Line, West Midlands Railway and Hull Trains all said a normal service is expected.

It comes as the long-running train drivers’ dispute looks set to continue into the new year as passengers suffered fresh travel misery on Wednesday because of another strike.

Members of Aslef walked out, coinciding with the final day of the annual conference of the Conservative Party in Manchester.

An almost empty concourse at London Euston station during the Aslef strike on Wednesday

It was the 14th strike since the pay and conditions dispute flared more than a year ago, leading to picket lines being mounted outside railway stations across England.

Which rail operators are affected by Aslef’s overtime ban today? 

Members of the train drivers’ union Aslef are carrying out an overtime ban this week from Monday until today, which is affecting these operators:

• Avanti West Coast
• c2c
• Chiltern Railways
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Railway
• Gatwick Express
• Great Northern
• Great Western Railway
• Greater Anglia
• Heathrow Express
• Island Line
• LNER
• London Northwestern Railway
• Northern
• South Western Railway
• Southeastern
• Southern
• Stansted Express
• Thameslink
• TransPennine Express
• West Midlands Railway

Many parts of the country had no services all day on Wednesday, including Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express.

Aslef’s general secretary Mick Whelan continued to blame the Government for the stand-off.

Speaking at a picket line outside London’s Euston station on Wednesday, he said: ‘We don’t have a problem in Scotland. We don’t have a problem in Wales.

‘We don’t have a problem in freight or Eurostar or with all the other companies. It is a Westminster political problem caused by Westminster.’

Mr Whelan said support for the latest strike was ‘solid’ and maintained that many Aslef members wanted to go ‘harder and faster’ because so little progress has been made for months.

No more strikes have been announced, but more industrial action could be held in the busy festive period, or even into the new year, if the deadlock is not broken soon.

Mr Whelan joined striking workers who had brought a life-sized cut-out of the Where’s Wally? cartoon character with Transport Secretary Mark Harper’s face imposed on it.

He said: ‘What we are seeing from the Tory conference is the managed decline of our railways.

‘We are striking today because we still haven’t seen the transport minister or the companies for the best part of six months.

‘The mood of the train drivers in the UK is that we will keep striking until we get a resolution that suits them.’

The union said train companies have always failed to employ enough drivers to provide a proper service.

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group said: ‘There is a deal on the table for Aslef that would take average driver salaries to £65,000 for a four-day week – that’s more than double the average UK salary and many drivers top up their income further by working overtime.

Trains at a very quiet London King’s Cross station on Wednesday as the Aslef rail strike began

Rail passengers arrive at a deserted London Victoria station on Wednesday during the strike 

‘We are ready and willing to talk to Aslef’s leaders so we can end this damaging dispute – but any talks about pay also need to address working practices that date back decades.

READ MORE Train strikes 2023: Full list of October dates affecting National rail services and the lines that are running

‘The industry depends on a monthly injection of up to £175 million from the taxpayer because revenues are still 30 per cent below pre-pandemic levels – while simultaneously facing unprecedented changes in customer travel patterns.

‘This isn’t just costing taxpayers, it’s costing businesses eye-watering sums, and all because Aslef’s leadership refuse to discuss much-needed changes to ways of working.

‘It is obvious that the sector can only fund a pay rise by changing how it delivers services so it can respond to that transformation in how the public use the railway.

‘That means putting managers – rather than unions – in charge of planning shifts. It means allowing managers to respond to unexpected staff absences so they can reduce the last-minute cancellations that so frustrate our customers.

‘It means giving our customers more reliable train services when they actually want to use them – particularly on Sundays. That is how any industry survives and thrives.’

A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘The Government spent £31 billion of taxpayers’ money – £1,000 per household – to protect rail workers’ jobs during the pandemic.

‘There is a fair and reasonable offer on the table that would take train drivers’ salaries from £60,000 to £65,000 for a 35-hour, four-day week.

Mick Whelan (second right), Aslef’s general secretary, joined striking workers who had brought a life-sized cut-out of the Where’s Wally? cartoon character with Transport Secretary Mark Harper’s face imposed on it to a picket line outside London Euston station on Wednesday

‘Aslef’s leaders won’t put this offer to their members and instead continue to strike, damaging their own industry in the process.’

Earlier this week on Tuesday, planned strikes on the London Underground were called off following ‘significant progress’ in talks over jobs and conditions.

READ MORE It’s not even a strike day! Chaos on Britain’s rail lines as operators offer slew of excuses for mayhem including overrunning engineering works, signal failures and staff shortages – forcing commuters to battle for carriage space in rush hour

Around 3,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) were due to walk out on Wednesday and today.

But the RMT said on Tuesday that following talks at the conciliation service Acas it managed to save jobs, prevent detrimental changes to rosters and secure protection of earnings around grading changes.

The union said: ‘The significant progress means that key elements have been settled although there remains wider negotiations to be had in the job, pensions and working agreements dispute.’

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘I congratulate all our members who were prepared to take strike action and our negotiations team for securing this victory in our Tube dispute.

‘Without the unity and industrial power of our members, there is no way we would have been able to make the progress we have.

‘We still remain in dispute over outstanding issues around pensions and working agreements and will continue to pursue a negotiated settlement.’

Nick Dent, London Underground’s director of customer operations, said: ‘We are pleased that the RMT has withdrawn its planned industrial action this week and that the dispute on our change proposals in stations is now resolved.

‘This is good news for London and we will continue to work closely with our trade unions as we evolve London Underground to ensure we can continue to support the capital in the most effective way.’

Acas chief conciliator Marina Glasgow said: ‘After four days of Acas talks, we are pleased that significant progress has been made through Acas to help resolve this area of dispute.’

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